Setlist
Plenty
Banditos*
Heaven on a Paper Plate
¡Americano!
Hello New Day
5x5
Marie
Ain't Got the Words
Never Thought
Jack vs. Jose
Girly*
All Over the Radio
Nada*
California Breakdown
All Over Again
Marie
Yahoos & Triangles*
Beautiful Disaster
Horses*
Noisy Head
Mexico*
Suckerpunch*
Mekong*
Down Together*
Bury My Heart at the Trailer Park
-- Encore --
Maybe We Should Fall in Love
Green & Dumb
* Refreshments songs
Tour Dates
11/13/15 Saint Paul, MN Turf Club
11/14/15 Chicago, IL Subterranean
11/15/15 Milwaukee, WI Shank Hall
11/17/15 Ferndale, MI Magic Bag
11/18/15 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon
11/19/15 Des Moines, IA Wooly's
11/20/15 St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill's
11/21/15 Tulsa, OK The Shrine
12/19/15 Englewood, CO Gothic Theatre
12/31/15 Tempe, AZ Marquee
03/01/16 The Lebrewski Cruise
03/02/16 The Lebrewski Cruise
03/03/16 The Lebrewski Cruise
03/04/16 The Lebrewski Cruise
03/05/16 The Lebrewski Cruise
Read MoreRoger Clyne
Fans of 90s Arizona rockers The Refreshments will be elated to know that Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers will be making a stop to the Turf Club on November 14th. Clyne, of course, was the lead singer
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Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers should really change their name to something like... Roger Clyne and the Rock ‘n Roll Caravan of Good Times (this is just a working title) ‘cause the times they were real good at that musical shelter from the storm, the Turf Club. The band has sold out nearly every show on this current tour and Friday would prove no different.
Birdcloud
photo: Sara Thrasher
Nashville openers Birdcloud took the packed house by surprise by unleashing a set of brutally funny Appalachian-style jams that covered everything from nocturnal emissions to saving your virginity for Jesus (the song is called just that!). The duo, made up of Jasmin Kaset (guitar) and Makenzie Green (mandolin), were a combination of comedy twosome Garkfunkel and Oates and cow-punk quartet Those Darlins. I loved how brash they were and how they played almost to spite the audience. Many of their songs are less than two minutes long so the band played through most of their catalogue including from their newest EP Tetnis (“No Worries,” “I Like Black Guys,” and “Boy”) and older tunes like “Problemz” (2012’s One More Again) and “Do What I Want” (2011’s self-titled). And when the music wasn’t enough, Kaset and Green upped their stage antics: Green attempted to feed Kaset a drink and take over strumming her guitar (it kinda worked) and for the final song, Kaset played the harmonica fitted on Green’s crotch (a nod to that infamous David Bowie/Mick Ronson image?)
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers took to the stage to raised bottles and cans and a joyful uproar from fans. For the first song “All Over the Radio,” the band welcomed merch-slinger Jason Boots onstage to play trumpet. Clyne and drummer P.H. Naffah are, of course, former members of 90s rock band the Refreshments so the setlist featured a sizable amount of Refreshments classics from 1996’s debut Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big and Buzzy and 1997’s The Bottle and Fresh Horses. The record company (Mercury) that dropped the Refreshments following The Bottle ended up contacting Clyne in order to reissue Fizzy for the 20th anniversary, a detail Clyne found both amusing and annoying.
The Fizzy reissue news was met with copious applause and Clyne, Naffah, and bandmates Jim Dalton (guitar) and Nick Scropos (bass) doled out tracks like “Banditos,” “Girly,” “Dolly” and my personal favorite “Down Together” with ferocious energy. Often times, Clyne didn’t even need to approach the mic - the crowd simply took over vocal duties. He also never needs to buy a drink for himself anywhere ever because he had shot after shot going up to him from lovelorn fans. How he was able to stay upright for the nearly two hours the Peacemakers were playing is still a mystery to me; the man produces his own tequila (Mexican Moonshine), so I’m sure he’s got a constitution of steel by now.
It wasn’t just Refreshments tunes getting folks riled up; the Peacemakers have been happily pumping out catchy Western-flavored records for years. The audience worked up a sweat for rockers like “Americano” and “I Don’t Need Another Thrill” (from 2004’s Americano!) and “Never Thought” (1999’s Honky Tonk Union) while the slower-paced set closer “Green & Dumb” cooled things down to a gentle sway (the encore also included “Maybe We Should Fall In Love”.) The band’s new album The Independent was also well-represented within the setlist: “I Ain’t Got the Words,” “California Breakdown,” and “5x5” sounded lively and crisp, so much better in person.
Boots told the crowd they would be recording the performance and that people could purchase a burned CD of it after the show - for a concert junkie, it doesn’t get much better than that.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that before heading out to this gig, I heard about the tragedy in Paris. Like everyone else, I was shocked and deeply troubled by the news and I had mixed feelings about seeing a show. That said, I’m so glad that I went. Not only did Birdcloud and Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers show me a good time, but I got to spend an evening with friends, like-minded people who came together for something they loved: music. I feel like that’s an act of defiance in the face of violence and fear, small as it is.
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers at Turf Club, St Paul (13 Nov 2015)
photo: Colby Starker
emily (emily@weheartmusic.com)
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