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Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 (USA)
04/17/03
Botanique, Brussels (BE)
Set List: Strange New World / Shelley’s Blues, Pt. 2 / The Ambassador of Soul / Southern California Line / Maybe Tomorrow / Still Holding on to You / Sustain / Crawling Misanthropic Blues / When You Smile / One Less Shining Star / Death Valley Rain / Merrittville / Is there Something I Should Know? / Sweetness and Light / My Old Haunts / If It Was Easy / Anthem / Nothing but the Shell / Good and Bad / The Side I’ll Never Show / Amphetamine / That’s What You Always Say / The Days of Wine and Roses / John Coltrane Stereo Blues
I discovered Steve Wynn very late: when he released his sixth studio album, My Midnight, in 1999. It came in a limited edition with a live bonus disc that was recorded here in Belgium. I immediately loved his revamping of classic guitar rock on the regular studio album, but also the live album was a CD I regularly played. Over the years, I got the chance to see him play live several times, and with the exception of the first time, all of these concerts were bafflingly good, and he earned himself a spot in my list of all time favorite live gigs. I also kept track of his albums of course (and I discovered and gathered his albums with The Dream Syndicate), and it’s my conviction that his seventh album, the double Here Come the Miracles (2001), is one of the best releases of the past ten years, by any rock artist. Anyway, seeing Wynn play live in the same venue he’d set on fire a mere two years ago was something I simply had to check out, so I gladly paid the 13,5 Euro, put on my bullet-proof vest, took my fire extinguisher along, and went to check it out.
This tour was planned as a promotional tour for his latest studio album (Static Transmission), on which he was backed by the same personnel as a couple of years ago: Jason Victor – guitar, his girlfriend Linda Pitmon – drums, Dave de Castro – bass (before the musicians came and went). Instead of being an advertisement for the latest album, however, the show felt more like an overview of Wynn’s lengthy career, which is full of highlights. He started off with an exciting rocker from the brilliant double album, then retreated to “Shelley’s Blues,” which he’d recorded before with Come, presented a track from his new album that sounded as if it had been there forever (“The Ambassador of Soul”), and then got back to the massively stomping “Southern California Line,” which is a mind-blowing ride through America’s sun-drenched deserts. After that, a few more songs from the last album followed, as well as a great version of “When You Smile” off of The Dream Syndicate’s notorious debut. Fortunately his solo stuff can hold up to the much lauded songs from the 80’s rock classic, certainly when backed by a string-bender like Jason Victor, and Linda Pitmon, whose backing vocals are often a nice contrast to the neo-psychedelic guitar work-outs.
Halfway through the gig, Wynn settled for a short acoustic set, with an impressive version of what might be one of the very best songs he’s ever written: the gut-wrenching “Merritville,” which sounded as impressive as the several electric versions that exist of this song. He continued with some lesser-known songs, such as “Is There Something I Should Know,” a song from his days in the Gutterball-project, and the hidden track from his last album, the joyful “If It Was easy (Everybody Would Be Doing It).” Although the volume went considerably down during these songs, the intensity never decreased (Victor even broke a string on his acoustic guitar which led to some funny mumbling on stage), and Wynn succeeded in keeping everyone’s attention. Which isn’t that hard, I suppose, because I had the impression that about 95% of the audience was very familiar with Wynn’s output. Maybe the fans are really loyal, maybe Wynn doesn’t really attract a younger audience anymore (even I felt quite young), but the fact remains that those who were there got some more great stuff: the muscular feel-good rocker “Nothing but the Shell” and one of my favorites, the slow but lengthy “Good and Bad,” had Wynn squeezing an amazing solo out of his trademark Telecaster and entranced the audience with whispered lyrics and a meticulously built-up tension that was the concert’s first great moment.
Finally, the set closed with another minor Dream Syndicate classic (“The Side I’ll Never Show”), and a last adrenaline rush in the form of “Amphetamine,” a “song about driving and speed.” If this were the end of the show, I would’ve been pleased already, but of course there was an encore, and it came under the guise of two more Syndicate classics: “That’s What You Always Say” and “The Days of Wine and Roses.” The last song is probably the song Wynn will always be remembered for, but rightly so, as it’s still a gem in modern guitar rock, and it’s unbelievable that a 20-year old Wynn was capable of writing a song this impressive, both lyrically and musically. De Castro and Pitmon laid a solid foundation on which Victor and Wynn could freak out, and the guitar solos, sounding constantly on the verge of falling apart, created such a noisy racket that the ceiling seemed to come down. The section where the song suddenly stops for a few seconds, and has Wynn returning with his preaching “The Word from outside is she’s on the ledge again” sent the shivers down my spine and made me again realize that watching Wynn and The Miracle 3 was seeing rock ‘n roll as live as it gets, and that rock ‘n roll should be seen in a live context, because no way can this be replicated when your ass is in the sofa. Sure, playing live albums can give you a good idea of what it sounds like, but when the sweat is rolling down your back, and the bass sounds turn your stomach upside down and the guitar player on stage is throwing his guitar manically throwing his guitar around while at the same time kicking your ass like it hasn’t been kicked in ages, then you know what it’s all about. It would’ve been a great ending, but the crowd cheered for more, and it got another lengthy classic, “John Coltrane Stereo Blues” that couldn’t quite repeat the delirious intensity and power of “The Days of Wine and Roses,” but it was a great bonus nevertheless.
Ever went to a concert where after the gig, when the lights went on and the DJ started playing music again, all people seemed to stare into nothingness with a little smile on their faces and then looked at each other with eyes that said “What the hell was that?” Well, it was one of those nights. Not the best gig I ever saw (Wynn’s previous show in Brussels was longer and perhaps even louder, with more songs from Here Come the Miracles), but Wynn confirmed again that he’s one of the most overlooked artists around. Nothing prevents me from suspecting he might very well be going through his most creative and relentlessly focused period since 1982, and that means a lot.
Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 (USA)
10/04/2003
Handelsbeurs, Ghent (B)
Support Act: Lemon (B)
Set List: Candy Machine / Southern California Line / Maybe Tomorrow / Ambassador of Soul / Sustain / Until Lately / Crawling Misanthropic Blues / One Less Shining Star / Death Valley Rain / Good and Bad / There Will Come a Day / Tell Me When It’s Over / That’s What You Always Say / Amphetamine // 1st encore: In Love with Everyone / Hollywood / The Days of Wine and Roses // 2nd encore: The Side I’ll Never Show / Play It All Night Long
The previous concerts of Wynn I attended were all amazing performances with an almost epic grandeur and exhaustion-factor. The shows in 2001, supporting the newly released masterpiece Here Come the Miracles were draining work-outs that lasted two and a half hours filled with chugging riffs, hard-hitting rhythms and lots of guitar freak-outs, courtesy of Wynn and sidekick Jason Victor. The gig earlier this year was part of a tour supporting the less noisy latest album Static Transmission and by consequence, the focus was less on the unapologetically loud rock of the previous release. However, Wynn and The Miracle 3 ain’t no slouches on stage, so even that gig was turned into a small battle of nearly heroic proportions. From the moment I entered this date’s venue (the chic and renovated Handelsbeurs in Ghent), I already knew it’d be somewhat different this time around. The surroundings made you think you were gonna have a night at the opera: a polished wooden floor, a huge ceiling, fancy furniture in the foyer, the works. The ideal setting for bands like Tindersticks and Lambchop, or artists like Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach. Definitely not rock ‘n’ roll (of the loud and greasy kind). But hey, Wynn usually wears a stylish jacket on stage too, and still he kicks out the jams, so no need to panic just yet.
I wasn’t that impressed by Belgian support act Lemon. Although their brand of lyrical rock has proven to be commercially viable on our home turf, I wasn’t very excited by their performance. Good musicianship and a vocalist with quite an impressive vocal range, but I couldn’t get rid of the feeling I was witnessing a watered-down version of Coldplay or one of those similar bands. Their cover of The Afghan Whigs’ “Miles Iz Ded” was quite surprising and well done, but by the moment Wynn and his revamped Miracle 3 arrived (for this tour, Dave de Castro was replaced by Semisonic’s John Munson on bass), I had forgotten most of their show (and I only blame myself). Wynn and his backing band clearly were in the mood and kicked off with a rocking version of “Candy Machine” (one of six tracks taken from Static Transmission), before launching into the desert-stomp of “Southern California Line.” Then I realized something was missing. Pitmon was hitting really hard though (and that’s always enjoyable to see – such an act), Victor was frantically torturing the frets of his fender Jazzmaster, and Munson did an excellent job too, while Wynn added his two cents with his sharp Telecaster shards of noise and the accompanying jerky moves (his body language makes you wonder whether he’s already playing another song in his head). Only the volume was lacking. Whereas it was simply impossible to verbally communicate during his previous gigs (the guitar assault was regularly one huge ass-kicking), this time it sounded as if you were watching the band from behind a window (and I swear I didn’t go to a Motörhead-gig the day before).
Wynn played most of his latest album’s highlights – “The Ambassador of Soul” combined funkiness and swiftness just like it should and the gorgeous pop-psychedelica of “Sustain” is still one of his very best songs, in my opinion. The rest of set was spent on songs from the two latest albums and the legendary Dream Syndicate debut. “Crawling Misanthropic Blues” once again was a furious highlight, while “Good and Bad” visited the other, more introvert, side of the spectrum, even though Wynn’s extended solo was as noisy as ever. The extended, boisterous jamming was toned down though. The previous gig in Brussels earlier this year was crammed with squeal-‘n’-skronk-battles between Wynn and Victor who’d dare each other to up the ante, but now those instances were rather few. Dream Syndicate classics “Tell me When It’s Over” and “That’s What You Always Say” were kept short and fairly tidy, but the band stepped on the gas pedal for a raucous and exciting version of “Amphetamine” that closed the set. Only fourteen songs, taken from three different albums: those who’ve attended a Wynn-gig before know that means they’re still in for something extra. The first encore was started off with the surprising inclusion of Sweetness and Light’s “In Love with Everyone,” followed by “Hollywood” and the inevitable tour de force “The Days of Wine and Roses,” which – I decided that yesterday – is probably one of my favorite songs ever. But, once again, no matter how intense the famous climaxes were delivered, it was the shortest version of the song I’ve ever heard, the band didn’t stretch out and kept the mad guitars in check.
The second encore offered two more surprises: first Wynn did a muted version of “The Side I’ll Never Show,” a song that’s been a highlight during many of his previous gigs and then he finished the concert with a song by one of his favorite songwriters: Warren Zevon’s “Play It All Night Long” was given an appropriately rough treatment. So, it certainly wasn’t the mind-blowing set of a few years ago (in the Soundstation in Liège or the Botanique in Brussels) that turned me into a lifelong Wynn-fan: it just lacked the volume, the noise-bordering-on-chaos and extraordinary length of those shows to reach that effect (you could say the band didn’t live up to Zevon’s order “Turn those speakers up full blast, play it all night long”), but I’m sure that if this had been the first Wynn gig I ever saw, I’d have been blown away by the barrage of terrific songs and dedicated musicianship. With his un-cool brand of rock, Wynn may not attract new audiences or rebellious youngsters, but it’s certainly not surprising to see the same familiar faces over and over again during his shows. One triumph can be a fluke, but the fans know he always delivers.
Durango (B) / Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 (USA)
12/18/05
AB, Brussels
Always different, always the same
When you're having Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 over for a concert, you better make sure you find a decent act to fulfill the support slot, and Durango proved to be a worthy candidate. Using a dirty, rusty bucket lying on a back road somewhere, Durango mixes lean roots-rock with swampy blues and the occasional ingredient from straight rock & roll to create an alternately dark and rocking set of frenzied voodoo that gave each of the members the opportunity to shine. The rhythm section kept things loose, simple and supple, Simon Pleysier's guitar growled like Tony Joe White's and slashed like Gary Sanford's (unheralded guitarist of Joe Jackson's early band) and in the meantime vocalist Fred Verhaegen switched from restrained menace to stage gymnastics that made him look like Lux Interior's kid brother fro Louisiana. Perhaps the set was a bit long, but they competently maintained a feverish atmosphere, which is no mean feat in a venue of such size.
Basically, I could insert Steve Wynn's diary entry about the performance and leave it at that, 'cause he nailed it down in a few lines:
We finished our tour at the beautiful large room at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. It easily the best venue of the tour--a stage larger than some clubs we played, a large room that was surrounded by walls covered with star-like lights that twinkled and glowed at various times of the show. Exhaustion be damned, this was our last show and we let loose with a wild, no-holds-barred FreakPunkPsychoLoveFest that concluded with a deconstructionist version of "John Coltrane Stereo Blues" (…)
This was probably the fifth or sixth time I caught Wynn with the Miracle 3 and with fond memories of the tours in support of Here Come the Miracles and Static Transmission, it's obvious our hopes were high. While the man's earliest solo albums were good, but ultimately led him to somewhat of a dead end, his collaboration with Come (Melting in the Dark) kickstarted a second Renaissance. Since then, Wynn hasn't looked back and released five albums in a row that range from excellent to brilliant (the 2001 double album, in particular). The most recent one - …Tick …Tick …Tick - is the final volume in a trilogy and basically continues the direction of the preceding two. Wynn's days as an innovator are over and he's settled for a certain style - drawn from several influences - but it's one that's appreciated by rock connoisseurs, who worship his mingling of classic rock and seething guitar freak-outs that combine the cerebral dissonance of The Velvet Underground with the grainy primitiveness of the classic Neil Young & Crazy Horse albums. On top of that, Wynn is also a gifted lyricist, a storyteller whose tales of love and hate and everything in between are both literate and spontaneous. It's no surprise, therefore, that he on his latest album, crime writer and longtime friend George Pelecanos co-wrote "Cindy, It Was Always You."
As usual, Wynn and The Miracle 3 (with new member Erik Van Loo on bass) tore through the most recent album as well as his previous solo work and the Dream Syndicate's material. Of the new songs that were played, the most memorable were the Diddley-chug of "Killing Me," which led to a seething climax in which Wynn and Jason Victor turned the intensity to 11, as well as "No Tomorrow," which, in Wynn's own words, tries to bridge the gaps between Queen, Thin Lizzy and the Allman Brothers. What he actually wanted to say is that it's a great song consisting of multiple parts, ranging from swaying pop to noisy guitar to a gospel-tinged finale. The gospel-element also returned during the victorious-sounding "There Will Come a Day." It wouldn't be a Wynn show if there weren't a few pleasant surprises and so we got to hear "Stare It Down" from the Come-collaboration and a rocking version of Dylan's "Blind Willie McTell." It wouldn't be entirely complete of course, without some seminal Dream Syndicate songs and Wynn, intending to rip things up, offered blistering interpretations of "Medicine Show," "Halloween" and "That's What You Always Say," while the audience sang along to the classic "Boston." Finally, a brutally effective song about a dysfunctional family ("The Days of Wine and Roses") and the monster jam of "John Coltrane Stereo Blues" (song each hardcore Wynn fan would put in their Top 20 of all time) put an end to a +2 hour show. The title here was once said by the late John Peel about his favorite band The Fall, and you could indeed say roughly the same about Wynn & his band: there are no hip gimmicks, no sudden sidesteps, no rock star bullshit. It's all done for the sake of the song, and when it's done with so much dedication and class, you just keep coming back for more.
Complete set List: Death Valley Rain / Cindy, It Was Always You / California Style / Southern California Line / Medicine Show / Blind Willie McTell / Freak Star / Stare It Down / When the Curtain Falls / Nothing But the Shell / No Tomorrow / Bruises / The Deep End / Killing Me / There Will Come a Day / That's What You Always Say / Amphetamine // Halloween / Boston / The Days of Wine and Roses // John Coltrane Stereo Blues
Read album reviews of similar or related artists: The Dream Syndicate