Review: Cracker at Crossroads KC

David Lowery has been in the music biz for 24 years, since he started Camper Van Beethoven in Southern California back in the Reagan years.

Time, a change of bands and new personnel haven't changed his fortunes much over the course of nearly a quarter century: Lowery and his band Cracker (now 15 years old) are still a fringe band, thriving far outside the outskirts of mainstream music, still irrelevant to the corporate radio that never plays them.

That doesn't mean he doesn't have a lot of fans, however. Friday night, Cracker headlined a show at Crossroads KC, the outdoor venue behind Grinders. This was billed as a free show -- free if you ordered or picked up a ticket before Friday (although the promoters seemed to be pretty loose with that deadline). Attendance was good; it looked like about 1,200 people were there when attendance peaked.

Local boys Pendergast opened the show, and its diesel-and-dust thrashy roots-rawk was the ideal set-up for what Cracker would deliver. Tony Ladesich has a commanding voice, one that had no problem filling the large space before him. The cover of Neil Young's "Powderfinger" was one of the evening's best moments. 

Cracker filled its two-hour set with enough favorites to keep the diehards interested all night -- songs like "Low," "Euro-Trash Girl," "Get Off This," "Teen Angst," "Lonesome Johnny Blues" and "Get Off This." They also tossed in some lesser-known favorites, like "Happy Birthday to Me and "I See the Light," plus the Camper classic, "Take the Skinheads Bowling."

This version of Cracker sounded relatively tight, though you could argue that at times they seemed to be going through the motions a bit. (Some people around me complained that the volume was a little low, but I thought it was perfect: Loud enough to hear, low enough to talk to the person next to you).

For a guy who writes such off-kilter, sometimes subversive, songs, Lowery doesn't show much of a stage presence, which was as inconspicuous as his blue Polo shirt. "Thank you very much," is about as chatty as he got all evening.

No big deal, I guess. Less talk meant more music, which meant fans got more bang out of their free tickets. Isn't welfare grand?

| Timothy Finn, The Star

 

 

Comments

[dawn]

i love that description of pendergast. i love them boys. glad to hear the show was good- wanted to be there, but work had me tied up right up until the architects at davey's.

[dontneedanything]

i brought 3 people with me (which they unfortunately got there too late to see pendergast, who were fantastic!) that had never heard cracker before, and we all left on cloud 9. the show was great.

and i agree with you - the sound level was perfect...im glad i forgot my earplugs at home. if people wanted to hear the music better, they should have taken a few steps forward. and there was more than enough room to do so.

[Vandelay]

A correction to the review: Johnny Hickman was not a member of Camper Van Beethoven. Camper's other guitarist (besides Lowery) was Greg Lisher.

[Tim Finn]

Thanks for the fix. (Dave Immerglück played some guitar, too.)