GOING TO SHOWS WITH WIVES/GIRLFRIENDS

On Thursday night, my wife and I went out to a show/benefit at Crobar on 28th St. It was a Katrina fundraiser sponsored by MoveOn.org, headlined by the Roots and Moby, with readings/speeches by Julia Stiles, Rosie Perez, Ned Lamont, and others.

But before I describe the great time we had, I should preface this story by explaining that my wife only agrees to accompany me to concerts/events under certain circumstances. We've been together ten years now, and in our early days together (the late 90s) I would drag her to countless hip-hop shows -- this was during the Rawkus era -- where we would have to stand for hours and endure awful opening acts until the headliner finally came on, hours later than scheduled, at 2am or whenever. As a result, nowadays she (understandably) has specific ground rules for live music. And I only invite her to performances that I know are guaranteed to be funky from start to finish -- and that I know will be painless. Shows that start on time, that end relatively early, and that don't require standing in crazy lines or jostling with fratboys, thugs, etc.

I should also point out that it is not just my wife who has grown weary of the live music scene. As I have gotten older, I've become much the same way. I just can't stand up for that long, and I don't have any patience for medicore opening acts. She and I are big fans of grown-folks venues, where you can sit and chill. Our favorite gig, for example, is the annual winter concert at BAM where we can sit in an opera-house-like space and enjoy real adult music like Bobby "Blue" Bland and Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave).

Don't get me wrong -- obviously, I still love me some hardcore sounds. I haven't become one of the Starbucks CD crowd yet. All I'm trying to say is that I totally see where my wife is coming from, in being selective about live music experiences. Which brings me back to the Crobar event...

I knew my wife would enjoy this one. The Roots have never let us down. Plus, it was for a good cause. And it was in a small club, and the whole thing was a bit out of the ordinary, not just your ususal show. And it was supposed to start promptly at 7 and be over by 9 or 10. And the tickets included an open bar.

So we slid in the place right at the beginning, before 7:00. Usually, my need to be at these things exactly on time drives my wife crazy. She says I'm on J.P.T.: Jewish People's Time. (No need for alarm, all you Member-of-the-Tribe readers, she's just joking, and she's my wife so she's got "license.") In this particular case, however, arriving early worked to our extreme advantage. Cause it meant we could start hitting up the open bar right away. And because we somehow scored the most amazing seats in the entire place.

I say we "somehow" scored, but it's really no mystery. Going to a show with a woman, particularly a pretty woman, is a different experience than going with your guy friends. Seriously, they just roll out the red carpet for you. My wife sweet-talked a bouncer and within minutes, not only were we in a VIP section but we were in this tiny little booth where CNN was interviewing all the celebs in the house.

We started chatting with the CNN interviewer, a really nice lady, and we got in good with her. So for the rest of the night, she had our back. Anytime anyone asked us to leave, she said "They're with me, they can stay." So it was just us, the CNN lady, the two camera people, and an assortment of interviewees including Moby, ?uestlove, and Rosie Perez.

I finally got introduced to ?uest -- after having seen the Roots at least 20+ times in the last ten years -- and was completely tongue-tied. Oh well. But we got to talk for a little bit to Rosie, who my wife and I both adore, though for slightly different reasons, I'm sure. Nudge nudge. Anyway, we were psyched to say hi to her, especially because she lives around the corner from us.

As for the rest of the show, it rocked. I had about eight free gin & tonics. (I was going to get my money's worth, goddamnit!) And the Roots were great, as always. They played all new stuff, from Game Theory, which is out this week. The best part of their show was the full Crescent City brass section, led by Jeff Bradshaw (who is actually from Philly). They had the crowd hype, especially when they segued from Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman" into a super-energetic version of Kanye's "Golddigger."

We were home in bed by 11:30. A perfect night for us old folks...

GNARLS BARKLEY AT CENTRAL PARK'S SUMMERSTAGE

I keep going back and forth in my thinking about Gnarls Berkley. On the one hand, I've long adored Cee-Lo and I'm happy to see him finally hit it big -- St. Elsewhere just went platinum, he announced at Thursday night's show. I think it's an excellent album, a tight set of fun, adventurous and genre-bending but accessible tunes, one of which will likely (and deservedly) go down in music history as a truly classic pop song.

On the other hand, as with anything so immensely popular as "Crazy," there seems to be a Gnarls backlash emerging in certain circles, and I admit I'm starting to fall victim to it. What bothers me -- and I know this may sound naive -- is that the marketing of Cee-Lo & Danger Mouse's goofy image has so overtaken their music. At the show in Central Park, they came on stage with a 13-piece band all dressed in prep-school garb, playing "Another Brick in the Wall," and announced themselves as "The School of Rock." Now, for those that don't know me, this theatric entrance combined three or four of my favorite things: Cee-Lo, Pink Floyd, and a hilarious Richard Linklater film (about music!) starring Jack Black. But all I could think was, alright, enough already with the damn costumes!

To their credit, they put on a pretty solid show (albeit with a few kinks that still need to be ironed out). The crowd was happy. I wasn't sure how it would go, especially because they only have one (short) album worth of material. They filled out their set with a couple of covers, in addition to the Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone," which appears on the CD. Unfortunately, the other two covers (of a song by The Greenhornes and an obscure Doors track) were total buzzkills. No one knew them and they just weren't strong enough performances to get an audience excited about something it had never heard before.

But when Gnarls were on, they were on. The more rocking, aggressive numbers, like "Just a Thought," worked best live. Throughout, they stuck pretty close to the album versions, except for "Transformer" and "Feng Shui" which they slowed down (perhaps out of necessity).

Cee-Lo sounded good -- he's never had the greatest voice, technically, but he makes up for it with his spirit. He really started to get into the groove with "The Last Time," but I kept wishing he'd let loose even more. Above all, I wished he'd drop at least one rhyme or two. Nada. Cee-Lo is a jaw-droppingly nimble and lyrical MC -- he is arguably a better rapper than a singer. So it was kind of bizarre, when you think about it. This man has quite a body of work to draw from. Two solo albums and three with Goodie Mob. Would it have been so weird for him to give the crowd even a small taste of his past?

PITCHFORK'S TOP 200 SONGS OF THE SIXTIES

First of all, sorry for the long delay since the last post. Vacation. But I'm back and I'm ready to break down some biscuits, baby!

So, let's get into it! Pitchfork Media has been featuring their Top 200 songs of the 1960's. Now, I usually hate these lists, but this one is way more insightful than the standard Rolling Stone, classic-rock establishment bullshit. I mean, they don't ignore the ol' chestnuts -- Beatles, Stones, Dylan, et al -- but there are also plenty of surprises.

Most of all, I have to give it up to the folks at Pitchfork for including a decent amount of black music. Usually, these lists equate the Sixties with rock and the white counterculture. But to this website's credit, they paint a broader picture here by folding in jazz, reggae, and most of all, soul music. (A good deal of country, too, and garage/proto-punk -- even some Brazilian, French, and African selections.)

Any list of the best songs of the Sixties that neglects such essential, almost sacred musical moments as "(Sitting on) The Dock of the Bay" and "A Change Is Gonna Come" isn't worth a dime. Pitchfork ranked Otis's minimalist masterpiece at #28 and Sam Cooke's civil-rights anthem at #3!

James Brown gets four spots: "Night Train (Live at the Apollo)" (#195), "Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me)" (#184), "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (#74), and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" (#33). Sly gets three: "Everyday People" (#128), "I Want to Take You Higher" (#78), and "Hot Fun in the Summertime" (#60). Aretha gets two: "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" (#157) and "Think" (#15). Same with Stevie: "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" (#169) and "I Was Made to Love Her" (#111).

But what really impressed me was the inclusion of some lesser-known soul gems like Irma Thomas's "Time Is On My Side," The Flirtations' "Nothing But a Heartache," and Lorraine Ellison's "Stay With Me."

I was also impressed by the Jamaican music presence on the list: early reggae classics by Alton Ellis, Desmond Dekker & The Aces, The Maytals, and The Paragons. Jazz is represented by: Charles Mingus's "Solo Dancer," The Cannonball Adderley Quintet's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," Albert Ayler's "Ghosts," Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World," John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things," Miles Davis's "Shh/Peaceful," Stan Getz's "The Girl From Ipanema," and Vince Guaraldi Trio's "Linus & Lucy."

I was surprised by a few choices. "Sympathy for the Devil" is only #39? Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning" is higher than "Heroin" or "Venus in Furs"? "Manic Depression" is higher than Jimi's "All Along the Watchtower"? "Hot Fun in the Summertime" is higher than "Everyday People" or "I Wanna Take You Higher"? "It's a Man's World" is higher than "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" or "Mother Popcorn"?

Here are the top 10, for those who don't want to scroll through all 200...

10. Desmond Dekker & The Aces -- Israelites

9. The Who -- I Can't Explain

8. Johnny Cash -- Folsom Prison Blues (Live at Folsom Prison)

7. The Beach Boys -- Wouldn't It Be Nice

6. The Ronettes -- Be My Baby

5. The Beatles -- A Day in the Life

4. Bob Dylan -- Like a Rolling Stone

3. Sam Cooke -- A Change Is Gonna Come

2. The Jackson 5 -- I Want You Back

1. The Beach Boys -- God Only Knows

I'm not so sure about two Pet Sounds tracks in the top 10, but they are great songs. Props to Pitchfork for making an unusually interesting list.

OUTKAST'S IDLEWILD

I recently wrote about how I was underwhelmed by everything I've heard so far from Outkast's upcoming album, the soundtrack to their new film Idlewild. Both the movie and the record have been years in the making, and have been pushed back numerous times. These delays made me nervous and perhaps even a bit resentful, as did all the rumors of Outkast's breaking-up. (Of course, everyone knows that the phenomenal duo of Andre "3000" Benjamin and Antwone "Big Boi" Patton have been heading in different directions for years, so none of this comes as a surprise.)

But I have to admit, maybe I spoke too soon. While their debut single from Idlewild, the Cab Calloway-influenced "The Mighty O" doesn't do that much for me, I'm warming up to the marching band sound of Big Boi's "Morris Brown" -- and especially to Andre's exciting "Idlewild Blues." Check out the Hurricane Katrina-inspired video here.

Speaking of which, I am greatly anticipating Spike Lee's Katrina documentary When the Levees Broke, which will air on HBO on August 21st and 22nd. I strongly believe that this disaster was a pivotal moment in American history, and we have barely begun to grasp its significance. According to the New York Times, when Spike was filming in New Orleans, "people, black and white, approached him and the 'Levees' crew . . . imploring: 'Tell the story. Tell the story.'" Sheila Nevins, the film’s executive producer and the president of the documentary and family division at HBO, says: "I realized this would be the film of record. When Spike interviews a forgotten American whose kid floated away in the water, he lets them raise up their poetry. They’re able to express to him what they’re not able to express to anyone else.”

I don't think there has been a film that has felt this urgent and important since Farenheit 9/11.