The Last Rock Band on the Planet

(Note: When you get done with this entry, flip over and read A wonderful bit by Andy Whitman of Paste Magazine about the death of local radio.)

When you've been playing music together for two decades, it would be easy to get bored with the same 15-20 songs, right? Not when you are Cracker.

In an intimate setting with about 750 people in attendance, the four-man rock band made famous by the mainstream hit "Low" in the early-mid 1990's put on a show that featured the best of their newest music and many, many of the tunes longtime fans like those from the Institute of Higher Thinking have made part of their personal soundtrack. Some veteran rock bands really fuck up by choosing to move away from their signature songs. Not Cracker. They obliged the crowd with the expected trio of best-known hits: "Euro-trash Girl" early in the show, "Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)" near the middle and the aforementioned "Low" towards the two-hour set's backside.

Around that, they played some stellar newer tunes from Greenland, the most recently released Cracker CD. Then, the band went to the fan-favorites. "Lonesome Johnny Blues" showcased not only guitarist Johnny Hickman's formidable playing chops but his vocals as well. "Sweet Thistle Pie" and "Movie Star" thundered out of the amplifiers and had the crowd about two notches below "Roman orgy." And as a huge surprise, the beautifully subdued "Another Song About the Rain" rolled out. For those of us that bought Cracker, the debut CD by the band, when it rolled out in 1992, hearing this one live was transcendent.

Enough fanboy gushing. Here are more pictures (guitarist Johnny Hickman with the IHT Dean and his brother above, by the way).

David Lowery. I think this was during "I See the Light."

Johnny Hickman tears it up on "Euro-trash Girl."

Sal Maia on bass. He bore an uncanny resemblance to Alan Rickman, actually, so it was like getting to see Serevus Snape playing bass. Too odd.

What the world needs now is more concerts where I end up with a spot next to the stage.