My girlfriend and I make up the Brooklyn band We're Not John and Yoko, and we took a break from late-night jam sessions (fighting) this Wednesday. Instead of performing our own music, we decided to head out to witness some live music. We ended up at the Mercury Lounge in Manhattan, on Houston Street, to see English troubadour Pete Molinari, and the opener, Ohioan, Daniel Wayne. We bought the tickets to see Pete, but Daniel went on first, stole the show, and was an incredibly hard act to follow.
Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, and now living in Brooklyn, Daniel Wayne is unsigned, but I predict, give him a year (or ten) and he'll be a household name. Don't let me down Dan! And, I can call him Dan. We're Not John and Yoko got a chance to meet him after the show, and he was very genuine, appreciating our emphatic compliments of his show. His music consisted of many different elements, the instrumentation blues and country, and his voice, very unique and hard to pinpoint, was haunting - that's a good thing, it's not? Not Yoko said his voice reminded her of Neil Young, and I'll add, if Young extended his voice to no end, and had a somewhat Johnny Cash swagger. Before the show, I briefly scanned Daniel's MySpace, and Doug DeFalco, a booker at Southpaw (Brooklyn music venue), wrote, "In February, I saw a singer whose performance stopped me in my tracks like I haven't been in years." We're Not John and Yoko soon experienced this too. Go see Daniel Wayne live. And, props to the lead guitarist, Jon Hildenstein, some Rolling Stones, Black Keys type handy work there.
Like I said, Pete Molinari was the reason we headed to the Mercury Lounge. Pete is another Dylan wannabe...but then again, who in their right mind wouldn't, in, some, way, shape or form, want to be, like, Bob Dylan. I write it slowly, and with excessive commas, to emphasize that you seriously have to question your life if you don't want to be like Dylan in some fashion. A gas station attendant has been pumping gas all day, he sniffs his hands, like a kindergartner sniffs Elmer's, and he thinks, "Wish I were like Dylan, man"...An accountant has been doing taxes all day, pounding computer keys, he looks at the ceiling, and thinks, "Dylan...yeah, that's who I wish I could be somewhat like, maybe I am"...Or, maybe you're not. Either way, we understand why Pete Molinari would want to be like Dylan...but, Pete has accomplished enough himself, and that's why we went to see him live.
Quickly it became apparent that much of the crowd actually came to see Daniel Wayne. The crowd thinned drastically. Pete and his band plugged-in for this show, and the instrumentation was just too loud, drowning out his voice, recalling people's reaction to Dylan's plug-in at the Newport Folk Festival (not quite!) But no, We're Not John and Yoko didn't call Pete a bastard. We still the show, but just prefer his folk music. He's best when he's solo-acoustic with his Dylan-like attached harmonica. Check out his song Sweet Louise from his second album, A Virtual Landslide. Pete's best album, in my opinion, is his first one, Walking Off the Map, which was recorded in Billy Childish's kitchen. After the show, Not Yoko asked for a picture and told Pete that I love him. I'm not so sure about that, but I did pick up a copy of his new album, A Train Bound for Glory...you owe me a dollar Pete, you bastard! We will check out Pete the next time he's in town.
Since this show, we have seen Daniel Wayne two more times. He is still unsigned. This reflects my inability to predict careers correctly every time. But, it also reflects that people are wrong when they say there is no good music out there today. It's out there. You just can't wait for record labels to tell you about it. Get out of the house and see some live music.
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