Spring Show Preview revue: Sweet, Rundgren, Southern Culture on the Skids, Black Joe Lewis, Tragicially Hip

Here are some show previews that I penned in the last few months. Yes, it's too late to see these shows, but maybe you can catch the bands the next time around.


Sweet at House of Blues
While scoring hits in the ’70s with classic rock staples “Ballroom Blitz,” “Little Willy” and “Fox on the Run,” Sweet never garnered the hip cachet of its British rock brethren. T.Rex and Mott the Hoople were cooler; Queen and ELO were more extravagant, and Bowie was Bowie. Sweet’s glam-pop sound came off, well, a little too sweet — and the name undoubtedly fed bubblegum comparisons. However, listening to Sweet’s new Shout! Factory anthology, Action, isn’t an empty-calorie experience. Besides their well-known singles, the fun-packed double-disc set revives big riff rockers like “Action,” “Teenage Rampage” and “The Lies in Your Eyes,” along with curios like “Alexander Graham Bell” and the Caribbean-flavored “Poppa Joe.” With bassist Steve Priest (immortalized in the “Are you ready, Steve?” line from “Ballroom Blitz”) the only remaining original member, there’s always the question of how, exactly, this incarnation will recreate the Sweet sound (and whether they’ll wear those silly knickers), but, still, it should make for a jolly night of “Wig-Wam Bam” rock & roll. (Michael Berick)

FRIDAY, MAY 15

LUCERO, BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS AT THE TROUBADOUR
If you get lit up by the sounds of James Brown and his Famous Flames, Otis Redding and the Bar-Kays or Wilson Pickett backed by Stax or Muscle Shoals men, then lend an ear to Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears. This Austin-based outfit vividly revives the sweet soul music and ribald R&B of their forefathers. Their recently released Lost Highway debut, Tell ’Em What Your Name Is! (produced by Spoon’s Jim Eno), explodes with heated blasts of guitars, organ and horns on the dynamo opener “Gunpowder.” They rip through more garage-soul hip-shakers like “Sugarfoot,” “Boogie” and “Bobby Booshay” while mixing in “oh, baby” pleaders like “Please, Pt. Two” and the country blues excursion “Master Sold My Baby.” While some critics quibble that the band hews too closely to its influences, there’s no denying that the guitar-wielding Lewis and his Honeybears deliver some seriously rockin’ funk. With Redding, Pickett and Brown all long gone, young Lewis has arrived to carry their torch with his hot and sweaty house-party ruckus. Sharing the bill is the twangy, ’Mats-ish Memphis-based bar rockers Lucero. Also at Alex’s Bar, Fri. (Michael Berick)

Todd Rundgren
Philly boy Todd Rundgren has long been one of Cleveland's favorite adopted sons. He headlined a World Series of Rock at the old stadium back in the day, and his 1978 Back to the Bars live album was partly recorded at the Cleveland Agora. Plus, he's a classic-rock staple here. While enjoying mighty success with sublime tunes like "I Saw the Light" and "Hello It's Me," Rundgren has taken a "something/anything" approach to his career. Like David Bowie (another Cleveland fave from way back), he's a rock 'n' roll chameleon. He effortlessly dishes up classic rock, Philly soul, heavy metal, prog-rock, show tunes and ribald ditties — sometimes on the same album, sometimes playing all the instruments too. His eccentric experimentations have resulted in rewarding whims (like his fun 1980 Beatles parody, Deface the Music) as well as some muddy self-indulgence (how many remember his '90s TR-i phrase?). Throughout his career, he's been a sought-after producer, with a résumé that includes Patti Smith, the New York Dolls, Grand Funk Railroad and Meat Loaf. Rundgren recently fronted the New Cars, which helped revitalize his love for guitar rock and led to his latest effort, Arena. While not hitting his heyday's highs, it's a strong rock outing solidified by muscular tracks like "Gun," "The Last Recluse" and the shimmering "Courage." He may not dress up in Egyptian regalia anymore or have flowing, multi-colored hair, but he's still Todd — a dream that goes on forever. Doors opens at 7:30 at the Palace Theatre (1501 Euclid Ave., 216.241.6000, playhousesquare.com). Tickets range from $10-$40. — Michael Berick

5-22: Southern Culture on the Skids/Los Straitjackets

It’s an Americana kitsch party when Southern Culture on the Skids (pictured) and Los Straitjackets pull their doublewide into town tonight. The two veteran groups draw upon a wide range of roots music: rockabilly, country, surf, garage-rock and Tex-Mex — and do so with a heavy slathering of humor. Los Straitjackets perform while wearing colorful Mexican wrestling masks, and SCOTS, who look like country cousins of the B-52s, get duded up in trailer-park chic. But what’s often overlooked among all their corny schtick is just how talented both bands are. On The Further Adventures Of …, Los Straitjackets rumble through their patented surfabilly-noir instrumentals, proving again they’re one of the top instrumental units working these days. SCOTS’ hick antics hide the fact that frontman Rick Miller is a mighty fine guitar picker. On their most recent album, the 2007 covers collection Countrypolitian Favorites, they dish out straightforward and wonderful renditions of Nashville nuggets like Joe South’s “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden” and George Jones’ “Let’s Invite Them Over,” alongside inventively twangy interpretations of the Kinks’ “Muswell Hillbilly,” the Who’s “Happy Jack” and T. Rex’s “Life’s a Gas.” Between SCOTS and Los Straits, this show definitely should be a gas. It’s at 9 p.m. at the Beachland Ballroom (15711 Waterloo Rd., 216.383.1124). Tickets: $20. — Michael Berick

5-31: Tragically Hip at HOB

There’s probably no bigger “big in Canada” band than the Tragically Hip. Over the past 25 years, they’ve racked up more than a dozen Juno Awards (Canada’s equivalent to the Grammys). They were also inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. The remarkably unchanged quintet remains guided by charismatic frontman Gordon Downie, whose passionate vocals and poetic lyrics make him something like a Maple Leaf Michael Stipe, while dueling guitarists Rob Baker and Paul Langlois fortify the band’s powerful, arena-filling sound. But the Hip’s latest album, We Are the Same, isn’t more of the same. There are a few signature rock thunderbolts (“Frozen in My Track” and “Love Is a First” — curiously, both are tucked in at the disc’s end), but the album’s tone is overall quieter and more subtle. The album’s bookends, “Morning Moon” and “Country Day,” boast wistful, bucolic R.E.M.-like qualities. The group pulls together its soft/hard elements on “Now the Struggle Has a Name,” a six-plus-minute emotional epic that sets the stage for the record’s centerpiece, the nine-and-a-half-minute “The Depression Suite.” This ambitious, three-part orchestral-rock opus should figure prominently onstage since it plays to the Hip’s chief strengths: Downie’s intense rock-poet persona, balanced by the band’s classic-rock dramatics. Showtime is 8 p.m. at House of Blues (308 Euclid Ave., 216.523.2583, hob.com). It’s sold out. — Michael Berick

New Old Souls

Soul music aficionados will welcome the arrival of a trio of new discs that all uphold classic soul traditions. In fact, these three discs - The Revelations’ Deep Soul (www.decisionrecords.com), Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears’ Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is (www.losthighwayrecords.com) and Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens’ What Have You Done, My Brother? (www.daptonerecords.com) - provide a full weekend’s worth of soul-filled listening.

Friday night belongs to the Revelations. This Brooklyn-based sextet serves up seductively smooth soul that’s seasoned with some street grittiness. Although the savvy band lays down “deep soul” grooves, the key to the band are its singers: lead vocalist Tre’ Williams’ silky urgency couples wonderfully with his supporting singer, Rell (a one-time Roc-A-Fella artist who also penned Usher’s hit “Here I Stand”). The band’s budding magic percolates throughout this disc, from the dynamic leadoff track “Stay Off” to the timeless vibe of “Everybody Knows” and wrapping up with the potent one-two punch of “Heavy Metal Blues” and the Curtis Mayfield-flavored “He’s A Hustler.” There are only seven songs on Deep Soul, although the band goes on to slow jam into the night with a full set of instrumental renditions to fill out this disc.

If the Revelations establish a mood for a romantic Friday night, then Black Joe Lewis cranks out party music for a raucous Saturday night. Lewis’ inspiration is James Brown, and he doesn’t really try to disguise it. (he thanks Brown is the liner notes). His supercharged debut disc explodes with his band’s blast of JB-like horns and his own Brown-esque grunts and shouts on the fiery opening tracks “Gunpowder” and “Sugarfoot.” But Lewis and his Austin-based crew are too wild a bunch to be mere Brown knockoffs. He spins a funny tale of a ladies’ man’s comeuppance in the funky “Get Yo Shit’ while he’s just as convincing showing less bravado on the gritty “I’m Broke.” But the rowdy workouts like “Big Booty Woman,” “Bobby Booshay” and “Boogie” rule the day here, and give Lewis the chance to showcase his electric guitar chops too. Although he doesn’t fully escape Brown’s shadow here (you can visualize him dropping to his knees ala Brown during the closer “Please Pt. Two”), Lewis definitely puts on a captivating, attention-grabbing performance here.

After all of Lewis’ ribald ways, it’s only natural to turn to some Sunday salvation. And that’s when it’s Naomi Shelton’s time. This Brooklyn singer provides a splendid bridge between soul and gospel. While her inspiring music speaks to God, it isn’t strictly gospel music. The sixty-something Shelton sings with a commanding, suffer-no-fools voice – something like if Tina Turner had stayed in the church and not ended up playing arenas (although the opening song “What Is This” makes one think that it’s something Dylan might have done). The playing here is the most restrained of these three discs, but it’s expertly done (performed by various Dap-tones and ex-Wilson Pickett sideman Cliff Driver). And her backing singers, the Gospel Queens, sound like they could have walked right out of a Brill Building session. This is just a glorious disc, populated with memorable tracks like the revival tent rouser “Trouble In My Way”, the politically charged Am I asking Too Much” and the moving cover of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Going To Come.” Daptone Records, who has already introduced the sensational Sharon Jones to the world, has found another soul-stirring singer in Naomi Shelton.
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